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V

THOMAS POWELL, ESQ.,

WHO DIED AT HIS RESIDENCE IN NEWBURGH, ON MONDAY, Ma/iS, 1856,

IN THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

BY

%m. JL £ fan limit, E 1. .

NEW YORK :

PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.

18 5 7.

;

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

158245

ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE, ....

5

MEMORIAL, By Rev. R. B. Van Kleeck, D. D.,

9

SERMON, By Rev. J. H. Hobart Brown,

47

OBITUARY, From Newburgh Telegraph,

71

RESOLUTIONS of the Board of Trustees,

78

FUNERAL SERVICES,

80

PROCEEDINGS OF PUBLIC MEETING, .

82

FAMILY REGISTER,

111

LIST OF PLATES.

PRESENTATION PLATE.

FRONTISPIECE, Portrait of Thomas Powell, Esq.

RESIDENCE, 25

MONUMENT, 81

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

The following Memorial may need a word
of explanation. It has been prepared and
printed by request. Upon the death of Mr.
Powell, it was the desire of the family
that I should officiate at his funeral; but
my absence in the West, at the time, ren-
dered it impossible for me to join in the
sad and solemn services. The duty was
well done by a younger brother, whose judi-
cious and excellent Discourse is hereto ap-
pended. It has been thought desirable,
also, to preserve, for future reference, and
as a meet and permanent memorial, the
obituary notice of Mr. Ruttenber, with

6

the addresses of Judges Brown, Bate and

McKissock, and Mr. Monell, and the

other proceedings of his fellow-citizens, on

the occasion of the death of Mr. Powell.

i

The whole is printed, not published, for

private circulation among the many friends

of Mr. Powell and his family, and it is

humbly hoped, may not be without profit

to those who shall read it, as well as for

soothing and comfort to those who are more

nearly afflicted and bereaved.

ROBERT B. VAN KLEECK.

Fishkill Landing, July 31, 1856.

*

1

■

EMORIAL.

" Vanity of Vanities, saith the Preacher, all is Vanity."

ECCLESIASTES XII. 8.

Strange words are these, when we con-
sider whence they come. They are from
Solomon, who, in all his glory, as the world
counts happiness, was the most fortunate of
men. With every resource of human hap-
piness at his command, amid the splendor of
the throne of Israel in its palmiest days —
a courted and envied Potentate, with all the
treasures of human knowledge, and a higher
wisdom, with untold stores of wealth — with
all that could gratify the eye, the ear, or the
taste, in social comfort, royal splendor and

10

intellectual enjoyment — in the midst of all
these, we see the royal preacher sad and
serious, and sighing forth his deep sense of
insufficiency and vanity. No one can read
the Book of Ecclesiastes, which was penned
by Solomon as the result of a calm review
and large experience of human life, without
asking earnestly, How can this be ? If King
Solomon, in all his glory — so wise, so rich,
so courted — was not happy, then, " what
shall the man do, who cometh after the
King 1 " Where can happiness be found,
and what is the secret of that deep sense of
dissatisfaction and vanity which was darkly
written in every line of the experience and
writings of Solomon ?

In considering this question, and attempt-

11

ing to solve this mystery of the inexplicable
life of man, the dealings of God's Provi-
dence, and our own experience and obser-
vation, come kindly to our aid. We can
never so realize and bring home the truths
of Scripture, as when we have them illus-
trated in living examples, and can see them
clearly reflected in the mirror of their ex-
perience, whom we have known in life and
lamented in death. Such an illustration
and such a mirror have been given to the
citizens of Newburgh, in the recent death
of their oldest friend and neighbor, Thomas
Powell. He came to his grave "an old
man and full of days," ripe and strong in
the vicissitudes and the experience of more
than four-score years, not a few of them

12

eventful, and in trying times. His fellow-
citizens, with one accord, did no less credit
to themselves than honor to his memory,
when they gathered in a sorrowing assem-
bly, to acknowledge their debt of gratitude,
and pay the last tribute of respect, to one
on whom they justly looked as their com-
mon benefactor. It is no part of our design
to dwell on and repeat the reminiscences or
the details of his early and his business life,
or the traits of character and many services
which made the death of Thomas Powell,
to the community in which he lived, a
public loss. The spontaneous witness of
a whole community, in reference to any
man, when death has set its seal upon his
life and memory, can seldom go astray.

15

seek the common welfare. These public
virtues were crowned by traits of truth and
tenderness, best known by a loving wife and
fond children, and loving and admiring chil-
dren's children, and his whole active life
was chequered and chastened by passing
clouds of sorrow and adversity, by well-
marked seasons of serious reflection, by a
large and most minute acquaintance with
the Word of God, and by distinct and ear-
nest thoughts, and forebodings of the future'
and eternity. Those who looked only on
the surface of his busy life, may not appre-
ciate this, but all those who knew him well,
and saw him in the bosom of his family, in
his hours of solitude, and in his hidden inner
life, will recognize the truthful lineaments

16

of one whom they looked upon in life and
death with various and conflicting feelings.
It is not, then, with a view so much to
him, as for the satisfaction and the good of
those whom he has left behind, that we con-
nect his name and memory with the important
theme before us. Without at all invading,
then, the sanctity of private scenes, or tear-
ing off the sacred veil which hides his fail-
ings in the dust, or bringing out to idle
gaze the unobtrusive features of his active,
earnest life, we may consider and improve
some lessons furnished us by one so long
and largely prospered in life, and now so
deeply lamented in death. If his expe-
rience in life and death commend to us the
truth of God, and the vanity of earth and

17

time, should not his surviving friends and
neighbors welcome it, and dwell on it, and
ponder it, and seriously and thoughtfully
apply it, in the earnest and exciting bustle
of life, and the serious and solemn contem-
plation of their own part and prospect, in
death and in eternity?

1. Then, let us endeavor to ascertain the
secret of that deep sense of vanity and dis-
satisfaction which was darkly written in
every line of the experience and writings
of Solomon. It was not as the King of
Israel, nor as the wisest of men, that Solo-
mon had this deep and painful feeling; but
as he was a man, because " nothing human
was foreign to him," and as a partaker of
the evils and burdens of our fallen race. It

18

is because he was a sinful man, in an evil
world, cursed by the fall and sin, that he
knew no perfect happiness; so that, as life
rolled on and the circle of his experience
was enlarged, and the resources of happi-
ness were multiplied, he grew more weary
and sad and sick at heart, and wrote on all
his splendor, his treasures, his court, his
crown, his large knowledge, his many plea-
sures, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit;"
"Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all
is vanity." In looking over carefully this
Book of Ecclesiastes, we have a large and
comprehensive view of human life, in its
every light and shade, in every changing as-
pect, every neAv experience, from the heights
of prosperity to the depths of adversity ; and

19

from the bright and buoyant hopes of youth,
to the sad sinking of age and of death — on
all are written, by the sighs and tears of the
wisest of men, and by the unerring witness of
the spirit of God, these few, but warning,
world-wide, universal words of warning and
of truth : " Vanity of Vanities, all is
Vanity!"

Now, how can these things be 1 Is it not
a bright and beautiful world in which we
live ? Is there not much upon earth to min-
ister to man in his happiness, to make him
thankful to God for his goodi;ess, and to stir
him up to rejoice in his portion, and praise
God for his many mercies ? Assuredly there
is much of this, and yet it was never intended
that the good things of earth should be the

20

proper portion of the soul of man, any more
than that this earth is to be his home forever,
and this short life his eternity and immor-
tality. On all things here we see and feel the
blight and curse of sin. For " the creature,"
that is the whole creation, with man as its
lord and head, " has been made subject to
Vanity," and the more he has of it, to
know and to enjoy, the more deeply will he
feel, and the more readily acknowledge,
that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit.*'
This cannot be the case with those who
have made but a short trial of earth, in its
promises, or who have had but a small portion
of its hopes and its joys. For in the one case
hope lures the youthful heart and leads it
on, and builds for it imaginary castles, and

21

weaves fair visions of delights in the uncer-
tain future ; and in the other, the poor and
afflicted are left to sigh in sadness over
their narrow lot and scanty portion, and to
feel how much happier they might have
been if fortune had smiled, or earth and
time had been more lavish of their treasures
and their joys. But when a man has " lived
long, and has seen good days," has been
largely blessed, has basked in the sunshine
of prosperity and the smiles of fortune, has
amassed large stores of wealth, has tried and
tasted the sweets of popular favor, and has
attained to the place and the portion he
longed for, for such to sit down sad and
disappointed, and muse of emptiness and
vanity, and sigh forth Ms sickness of heart

22

and restless longing — which disdain and look

down on a portion so small — and roam and

soar at large, in quest of a better portion,

nobler pleasures and more satisfying joys;

this is a practical, real testimony to the evil

of sin, and the power and wants of the soul

of man, and the vanity of earth and of time,

which not only the wisdom of Solomon, but

the experience of the world, has confirmed.

All experience proves, that the more man

has to enjoy, the more he desires; and the

more real and painful his sense of insuffi-

ciency and vanity, whether he has wealth,

or honors, or social comforts, or pleasures,
or any other form of earthly joy. In Alex-
ander, after he had conquered the world,

sitting down and weeping, because he had

i

23

not other worlds to conquer, we have the
true type of man, in his deep wants and
restless longing. The higher he rises, and
the more he acquires, the higher do his
thoughts and hopes ascend, while ever be-
fore him Alps on Alps arise, and bear him
on, and tempt his upward weary way. In
Solomon, thus sadly musing over so large a
portion, and joys so great and high, we see
how little earth can do to fill the soul of
man, and that without God and Christ and
Heaven, "All is Vanity."

It was so in the experience of our de-
parted friend. It is well known how full
was his portion, and how large his pros-
perity; "how small his beginnings, and
how greatly increased his latter end;" how

24

much he was blessed in life with growing
wealth, and home comforts and pleasures,
and a life as free from envy and from enmity
as most enjoy. If we mark the contrast
between Thomas Powell, in his youth,
with his brother Jacob, their only fortune
in their energy and integrity, and compare
the little lime-kiln at Marlborough, and the
one small sloop from Newburgh, the scanty
store in New York, and their small begin-
nings at Newburgh, with the Thomas
Powell of the last twenty years — the man
of wealth, and enterprise, and public spirit —
his name floating on noble steamers, and
sustaining well-established banks, great lines
of railroads using the power of his large
capital and financial skill, a valuable ferry,

Xf

THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

A3TOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

25

a crowded pathway of the noble Hudson,
his property for years, the town in which
he lived enjoying the benefits of his fore-
cast, his large capital, his generous ventures
for her good ; all these, with the rapidly in-
creasing treasures of his own wealth, gave
him a place and a position in the commu-
nity in which he lived, which, as the world
counts fortune, were greatly to be envied
and desired. His residence for many years,
its very site first chosen for its adaptation to
the work of a dairy and a farm, and after-
wards adorned and beautified, until it sat as
a crown of beauty on the hill-side, and
looked out on the varied scene which the
noble Hudson and the Bay of Newburgh,
and the mountains and fertile fields of

26

Dutchess, and the distant and enchanting
view of West Point, spread out before the
eye, from every window of his dwelling,
and every point of his estate, with the com-
forts of his family (not unalloyed by
change and sorrow and death), gave him
"a local habitation and a name" which,
with all he had beside, would surely have
made Thomas Powell a happy man, if to
be fortunate and happy were always one,
either in the design and will of God, or the
experience of men. And yet, in the midst
of all this, his sufficiency, he was in straits.
His own experience wrought out for him

the problem of the vanity of earth and its
utter insufficiency as the portion of the soul
of man, so that for several years, in age and

27

when alone, he has been a weary, burdened
man, restless and longing, looking for some-
thing higher than the world could give, and
turning from his full portion and his busy
life, to ask for and to seek, "that peace
which the world cannot give, and which it
cannot take away." To those who often
heard him speak of the importance of sim-
plicity, of how little of large means any
man can enjoy, how wealth brings with it
its cares and toils, and other reflections such
as these, will make their own application of
his views and words to the subject before
us. I well remember, in an earnest con-
versation which I had with him a few
month before his death, I was deeply im-
pressed by the different aspect which his

28

outside character and his hidden life pre-
sented. I found him alone, and enfeebled
by a recent attack. He seemed ready at
once to enter on the subject of religion.
I spoke freely of the vanity of the world,
of the worth of the soul, and of his need
and desire of salvation. Most impressive
and startling was it to hear from such a man
the earnest fear expressed "that he could
not be saved." And yet he seemed to
grope and strive, in earnest at least, and
may we not hope, successfully, for the way
of life and salvation. I esteemed it a
privilege to speak to him "of repentance
towards God and faith towards our Lord
Jesus Christ," and to urge upon him the
importance of earnest, humble prayer, and

29

looking unto Jesus, in simple and humble
penitence, if he would be saved. I saw
him no more in life, but could not but regret
the disadvantage to which he was subjected,
by the want of early religious knowledge,
by the power and influence of infidel asso-
ciations in his riper years, and by the en-
grossing and enduring habits of a life
devoted to the earnest seeking of the world,
in its cares and its portion.

In this his honest, earnest testimony and
experience, those who have tried the world
long, and for whom it has done much, may
read their own thoughts and hearts, and
while with conscious sighs they own that all
is vanity and weariness, and sorrow and
pain, they may turn away from these, to

30

seek in God and Heaven their portion and
their rest. With all those who have had
these feelings, as life and time roll on, they
will be for them and within them, more
real and more deep, a painful burden and
inward longings, which can feel on earth no
rest, and in the creature nought but vanity.
Your own deep sighs, and earnest, honest
hearts, look round in serious sadness on your
cares, your toils, your treasures, your homes,
your friends, your prospects, your portion,
and write upon them all, what all must
know and feel who are creatures and sin-
ners, and mortal and frail, "that all is
vanity and vexation of spirit," and with
the wise man you will take your stand, and
look out on the pathway of life, and the

31

grave and gate of death, and say with sigh-
ing and sadness, "Vanity 'of Vanities, all
is Vanity."

2. This brings us to consider the proper
remedy for this deep sense of vanity and
weariness. There must be some relief,
some remedy for wants so great, and feel-
ings and desires so painful and oppressive.
He who made man's heart and soul, did not
create these longings and desires for nought.
He would not by the vanity of earth, only
raise man's expectations that He may disap-
point his hopes; nor tempt and tantalize
him with the offered cup of joy, only that
it may be dashed and embittered with sor-
row and vanity, with pain and death. Oh
no, for "God is love." He loves the crea-

32

tures he has made, and man in His own
image, as their chief and crown. He does,
indeed, embitter earth for man, but it is
only that He may raise his thoughts and
hopes to Heaven; He breaks his schemes
of earthly joy, but it is that he may seek
his all in God. He does allow him to jour-
ney on through life weary and heavy laden,
with care, and toil, and sin ; but it is that he
may hear the voice which calls him to his
rest in God, in Christ, and Heaven. It was
so with Solomon, who looking wisely at the
various paths and scenes of human life,
when God offered him his choice of bless-
ings, he chose not riches, nor honor, nor
fame, nor the life of his enemies, but made
the high and heavenly wisdom, his sure

33

choice. And thus he gained with it the
rest, and has commended to us from the
olden time the heavenly rule and the sure
promise, which a greater than Solomon has
given us, "Seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you." For God's king-
dom in the heart, in righteousness, and
peace, and holy joy, is that which can alone
give sweetness and sufficiency to any joys
and portion here. They sweeten with the
cross the bitter waters of the curse; they
sanctify the blessings and the portion of
earth; they lead the earnest soul to trace
these streams of earthly joy up to the foun-
tain of eternal love ; and He who has made
all else to be but vanity, invites the longing

5

34

soul to find in Him its portion, its rest, its
home, its peace, its joy, and happiness, and
Heaven. It is thus the soul asserts its true
dignity, and its higher destiny, when it re-
fuses to feed on the husks of the world, and
leaves its broken cisterns and polluted
streams, to feast on the banquet of Heaven,
and to drink of the waters of life. This
deep want of the soul, is the voice and the
image of God, rising, "soaring, longing,
ever tending upward and onward, that it
may be filled with the fulness of God."

That our departed friend felt the need of
this great remedy, and was not thoughtless
and reckless of death and eternity, we have
from the lips of more than one witness.
The Hon. Justice Brown thus gives his tes-

35

timony. Speaking of an interview which
he had with Mr. Powell some time before
his death, he says, "As I went to take
leave of him, I ventured to inquire if the
near approach of death inspired him with
any terror. He replied with his usual
cheerfulness, 'Not in the least. I have
long contemplated the event, and am quite
prepared for it. I have outlived my capa-
city for usefulness and enjoyment, and have
no longer a wish to remain. I regard
death,' said he, 'as a necessary as well as
inevitable event, the consummation and
completion of the state of being which we
call life ; and I shall encounter, without ap-
prehension, and not without hope, the
change which awaits us all.' " To another,

36

at a later period, he said: "After years of
anxious thought, he had come to the con-
clusion, that he could not atone for his own
offences, and that he needed a mediator,
and hoped for pardon through his merits."
He further said, "that he always made it a
point to examine his daily life each morn-
ing and evening, and ask God for direc-
tion." Such views of death, of life, of the
importance and necessity of prayer, of self-
examination, of repentance and faith in a
mediator, in order to the forgiveness of sins,
if faithfully carried out, must have brought
to his weary and anxious soul, after long
years of worldliness and of delay, pardon
and peace,, rest and hope. His sorrowing
family will find soothing comfort in these

37

and other like expressions, which fell from
his honest lips. It is no part of our object,
nor would it either be just to him or faith-
ful to others, if we presented his character
for imitation in its religious bearings and
relations. Those who knew him best have
done full justice to his memory, as a man
of business and of public spirit, a common,
public benefactor. In our attempted por-
traiture, we rather hold him up by way of
counsel and warning, as an illustration of
the vanity of the world, and its utter insuffi-
ciency, even in large possessions, and every
form of its portion and joys. When we
think of Mr. Powell, so often chastened
and afflicted in his life, and living in the at-
tractive atmosphere of sincere piety, in

38

those whom he loved and lost — especially
that dear, sweet Mary who so long pre-
ceded him in the way of death and the
grave — may we not hope that these lessons
were not wholly lost, and that his long and
weary life, and the many infirmities of his
age, and his death, may have helped not
only to convince him of the evil of sin and
the vanity of earth, but also brought him,
weary and heavy laden, to God and Christ,
for rest and peace. But all this we must
leave in the hands of God, and for the
issues of eternity. "The day will declare
every man's work, of what sort it is."
"The Lord grant unto him, and to us all,
that we may find mercy of the Lord in that
day."

39

In this brief memorial, which has been
written as a labor of love, for the soothing
and comfort of a stricken one, who has for
many years been my own friend and my
father's friend, I am carried back and filled
with memories of the past, alike pleasant
and painful. The scenes of my childhood
and youth, the graves of parents honored
and beloved, "now passed into the skies;"
the recollection of the friend of my youth,
the lovely, gifted and lamented James A.
Powell — the recollection of the many of
the aged and venerable whom I loved and
honored — the thought of the revered trio of
village Pastors, where the pastoral tie is so
honored and loved, one of whom, the
venerated Johnston, has gone to his rest,

40
I

while the faithful, useful, earnest and be-
loved Brown remains, with the quiet and
unassuming, but learned and pious, McCar-
rell ; all these, with many other memories,
press upon my mind and fill my heart, while
I pay this loving, heart-felt tribute to the
scenes and reminiscences of the Village of
New burgh.

That they should cluster round the mem-
ory of one who lived to be its oldest inhabi-
tant, and came to his grave amid its sorrows
and praises, is both opportune and appro-
priate.

In the busy, active life and lamented
death of him who has departed, we may
see another striking instance of the vanity
of human life. His large possessions and

41

his pleasant home, with all the beauty and
sweetness which nature and cultivation could
throw around it, had no power to save its
inmate and owner from the ravages of age
and disease, nor to ward off the hour and the
power of death. He has left all behind, and
all that remain to him now of what God
gave and he possessed, "are a shroud, a cof-
fin and a grave." To his heirs who survive,
are left the stewardship of a large and solemn
trust, golden opportunities of doing and get-
ting good, and the same sure prospect of
death, judgment and eternity.

We thus see Vanity of Vanities written
on all the treasures, and comforts, and plea-
sant scenes, and homes of earth; and we
may learn to prize and seek the power of

6

42

that grace and faith which can bear up the
spirit in sickness and in death, and dissolv-
ing the tender ties and enchanting scenes
of earth, reveal beyond this fleeting world
a brighter, happier scene, which no change
can mar, no sickness waste, no sin disturb,
no death destroy — but where a heavenly
inheritance, unfading and divine, and a
holy, happy home of rest eternal in the
Heavens, invite the weary pilgrim, and fill
and crown the soul, a thirst for God and
immortality. May ours be the pathway of
peace through the shadows of life, and the
home of the soul in the rest and glories of
Heaven !

§$txman

PREACHED AT THE BURIAL

OP

■

THOMAS POWELL, ESQ.,

OF NEWBURGH, N. Y.

•
BY

%tu. %. 3D. %kh:t 3knmtt,

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE GOOD ANGELS, BROOKLYN, L. I.

DISCOURSE.

"What man is he that liveth and shall not see death."

Psalm lxxxix, 48.

My Brethren : A solemn event has called
us to this place! An immortal spirit has
winged its flight to God ! Its ruined shrine
lies there ! The great clock of human ex-
istence has marked a life gone by, and
tolled a knell of warning! A mournful
shadow is resting upon this whole commu-
nity. There is an unwonted pause in the
hurry of worldly business, while conscience
from its pulpit in the heart, in God's name
proclaims, "There is a time to die!
Prepare to meet thy God ! "

48

Brethren: Death is a very ordinary oc-
currence. In some form or other we meet
it every day. Men are like the leaves
of some vast-spreading vine; some, just
budding, are nipped by early frost: some,
the worm destroys in all their growing
beauty: others are consumed by the burn-
ing rays of the summer sun : a few linger
on until they are chilled by the cold breath
of winter, and then they, too, wither away
and are no more. No age nor condition is
exempt from death's attack. None of us
can tell how soon his invisible, irresistible
arm may smite us to the earth.

And yet, so repugnant to our nature is
the thought of death, — so contradictory to
the warm life gushing within us, that few

49

persons realize that they are mortal. The
young man is strong. He is sensible of no
present weakness, and fears none in the
future. He can scarcely believe' that his
vigorous pulse shall ever beat feebly; — his
bright eye grow dim — his springing feet,
that lightly tread the roughest mountain
way, totter and fall on the floor of home —
his ringing laugh give place to the tremu-
lous tones of age, overflowing with life.
Knowing nothing but growth, he does not
care to think about decay and death. So
he plunges headlong into the turmoil of the
world. His heart beats high with lofty
aims, and his arm feels strong enough to
accomplish them. Riches, pleasure, honor
dazzle him with their brilliance. His bark

7

50

dashes merrily over the foaming waves of
life. He runs the race of hurry, bustle and
excitement. It does not matter much which
way he goes, so long as exertion gives vent
to his fevered spirits. He stands in his own
strength, and does not think that it shall
ever fail.

Then God begins to correct him with
many sad lessons and bitter experiences.
Plans, supposed so perfect in their arrange-
ment as to be beyond the chance of disap-
pointment, are frustrated. He is deceived
by men. To his amazement he finds that
even he himself deceives himself. Wealth
and honor, which at a distance glittered
like diamonds, he discovers are only dew
drops, transient and fading away. Dark

L

52

should be afraid of it? What is death that
it should make men gloomy and down-
hearted? Is it not only another phase of
life? — of life without the body, yet of life
as deep and real as that which we now
possess? Death is not an absorption of in-
dividual existence, nor an end of individual
being. The candle of immortal life can
never be put out. Death conveys it from
one room to another, and simply places
it beyond our sight. Everlasting life be-
gins in this world. Death is only a tem-
porary separation of soul and body, having
no sting, no bitterness, but sin.

I make these remarks because so many
people cling to old, dark, heathenish notions
of death, and do not seem to knoAv how full

55

Gospel be true, and it is, what have Chris-
tians to fear in death 1

I do not deny that there is a deep and
unutterable solemnity pervading the regions
of the grave. There our earthly probation
ends. There we enter the ante- chamber of
the judgment hall of God. Our lives are
written in volumes. Years are the chap-
ters, and days the verses. Death writes the
Finis, and seals them until the day of doom.
But believe me, death gathers all its impor-
tance from life. In itself considered, the
moment of death is no more to be considered
than any other point of time. This very
moment — now, while we draw this fleeting
breath, eternal joy and eternal woe are in
the balances. Life thrown in on either

56

side, will determine the result forever. This
hour the battle of good and evil is joined.
We may side with the one, and be more
than conquerors forever, or with the other,
and bind ourselves in everlasting servitude.
Now, the gates of Heaven stand open, and
all who please may enter there. Now,
while we live must we make our salva-
tion sure. Life is but a span long. Death
shall soon feach us how short a span it is.
But I feel that to-day I ought to speak
especially to the aged. "What man is he
that liveth and shall not see death!" A
man may outlive his fellows, and seem to
defy decay and disease. He may stand for
years like a giant tree in a forest, the sole
remnant of a generation departed. But at

57

last he must fall. Oh ! my venerable breth-
ren, do not let your long stay in this world
confirm you in the belief that death is yet
far off. Do not let length of days only root
you more firmly in this life. It is a sad
sight to see an old man tottering down the
hill of life, trusting to the weak broken staff
of earthly support. But what vision is
given to mortal more beautiful than of some
aged saint — some Simeon or Anna — who
walks in faith, leaning upon the promises of
God. Old age unblessed by God! What
a cold and cheerless thought. What is it
like ? It is a field barren and deserted. It
is a tree rotten and without fruit — a ruined
house — a glorious temple with its altar over-
turned and its columns broken. Oh! how

58

ought hoary heads to be venerable, as for
many years, so for many good works — for
wisdom, faith, hope and love. The wheat
is golden when it is ripe — the rays of the
setting sun are soft and rich — and so the
aged Christian shines in brightest glory
when he stands on the brink of time, cheer-
fully and undauntedly watching the ap-
proach of the angel of Death.

My Brethren : I wish that other lips than
mine were to speak to you of him whose
body we are about to consign to the
tomb. Your beloved Rector could speak to
you in fit terms of one whose whole life was
inwoven with the growth and prosperity of
Newburgh. Most of you who now hear
me could say with truth, that Mr. Thomas

59

Powell went among men for an old man,
in the days of your youth. Eighty-seven
years sum up the time of his pilgrimage on
earth — years which have seen the birth and
vast increase of this mighty Nation, and the
rise and fall of foreign Empires — years
which stand thick with events of more wide
importance. Mr. Powell was born in
Hempstead, Long Island. When he was
twelve years of age, his father died. At
once the boy was compelled to grapple with
the hard world. How successfully he bat-
tled is sufficiently shown by the very pro-
minent position, as a landholder and man of
wealth, which he held at the time of his
decease. Having reached his eighteenth
year, he came to Orange County, and from

60

that time his life is identified with the history
of this locality. I will not stay now to enu-
merate the different enterprises with which,
at some time or other, he was connected.
A man of untiring perseverance of purpose,
of unusual energy and activity of both
mind and body, possessing keen perceptive
powers, with a large share of prudence, he
could hardly help succeeding in whatever
he undertook. Yet while prosecuting vigor-
ously his own private business, he gave an
impulse for good to the whole community.
He did not confine his efforts to mere selfish
ends. He was a true citizen, and labored
to improve and beautify the home of his
choice. With wise foresight and high
liberality he endeavored to make New-

61

burgh become, what its situation demands,
a pleasant abiding place, a delight to the
eye of the traveler, and a bright ornament
of the State. His death is a public loss.
He has indeed left a vacancy which cannot
easily be filled. So many were the ties
which bound him to this town and county,
ties which, in the lapse of years grew
stronger rather than weaker, that their sud-
den and complete disruption cannot but
cause universal trouble and grief. There is
a head and father gone from the people.
Surely it is a time to be silent, and to com-
mune with God. It is no more than right that
to-day your business is suspended, and an un-
usual quiet betokens the deep respect which
is felt for the memory of the departed.

62

I have spoken of Mr. Powell as he ap-
peared to society at large. Those who
shared his heart and his home knew him
better than the outside world. They recog-
nized and felt those kindly characteristics of
his nature and disposition which smoothed
and sweetened private life. As a father
and a friend he was deeply and tenderly
loved. He has left a stricken household.
There are mourners who cannot tell the
grief that burdens their breasts. But let
me not rudely lift the sacred veil of private
woe. God the Holy Ghost, the blessed
Comforter, who left his bright abode in
Heaven to dwell with man, He alone can
speak "effectual words of peace and hope,"
words not to be heard, but felt.

63

My Brethren: As we stand here around
the body of our friend, a solemn thought is
pressing at our hearts. He has gone to his
Creator and Judge ! When we think of the
vast issues pending upon the sentence which
that Judge shall utter — a sentence which
shall come with power, power that cannot
be resisted — it is well that we know God is
merciful as well as just; else our hearts
would sink with fear. It is well that we
know God himself shall be our Judge. Who
else but the All-wise One could weigh the
difference in physical and mental endow-
ments— the poAverful influence of early edu-
cation, and the wonderful pressure of sur-
rounding circumstances of life, circumstances
which a man may not choose for himself,

64

but into which he is inducted whether he

will or whether he will not. It is enough for

us to compare outward actions with an out-

ward law. Even then we find it hard

enough to be truly just. But the heart

God alone can judge. All glory be to Him

that he has revealed to us that great princi-

ple of His merciful equity, that he will

judge a man according to that which he

has, and not according to that which he

has not.

Brethren, the death of Mr. Powell

teaches us that the longest life will surely

end. It warns you, and it warns me, not

to flatter ourselves with the certainty of

human life. It warns us now, while we

live, to acknowlegde and realize the intrin-

65

sic greatness of our nature, and the everlast-
ingness of our existence. It warns us to
turn at once, with all our hearts, to God.
There is no man that shall not see death!
Not many of us here present can expect to
live to be old. Our sun may go down while it
is yet noon. Yet if we accept reconciliation
with God in the Beloved One, we have
nothing to fear. When the shadows of
death close around us, the dew of peace
shall softly fall. The Star of Hope shall
shine out. The staff of Almighty strength
shall be in our hands. God giveth songs in
the night! The darkness is no darkness
with Him. In His light we shall see light.
A few more words and I have done. My
brethren, God has given us time so that we

66

may do all the work that He has prepared
for us. We must work with fear and trem-
bling, if we wish to be saved. God desires
to be glorified in us by our faith and
obedience, and by our brotherly love.
Therefore I most earnestly entreat those
among you who are careless of God's laws,
to think that however great you may imag-
ine your faith to be, if it does not produce
in you the fruit of good living, it is a dead
and profitless faith. While you have life,
repent and amend your ways ! I say it with
all due thoughtfulness, that no man that
knows God's will can blamelessly remain
unbaptised, nor keep away from the table
of the Lord, nor be negligent of the public
duties of piety, nor be careless of private

67

prayer, or any other means of grace. No
man without peril to his soul, can be dis-
honest in his daily transactions, nor harsh,
nor cruel, nor vindictive, nor covetous. In
the Book of Proverbs, it is written: "The
sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether
he has eaten little or much." So, the rest
of a working Christian is sweet, whether he
has been rich or poor, honored or unknown.
"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord:
even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from
their labors." Brethren, shall such bless-
edness be yours ? Shall such rest be yours ?

Iriiorji ^Mnsm

ON THE

OCCASION OF THE DEATH

OF

THOMAS POWELL, ESQ.

OF NEW BURGH, N . Y .

DEATH OF THOMAS POWELL, ESQ.

The following Obituary Notice appeared in
the Newburgh Telegraph of May 15, 1856.

Thomas Powell, Esq., whose name has been iden-
tified with the business of Newburgh for some sixty
years, and is as " familiar as household words" in every
hamlet and farm-house in this section of country, as
well as known and respected in commercial circles
throughout this and adjoining States, died at his resi-
dence in this Village, at quarter past 5 p. m., on Mon-
day last, in the 88th year of his age. For some time
past, Mr. Powell has been gradually declining. His
last illness was from the 26th ult., since which time he
had been confined to his room. Life's duties all per-
formed, and surrounded by sympathising friends, he
passed quietly and peacefully to " that bourne from
whence no traveler returns."

The Powell family was originally from Wales. Their

72

immigration to this country dates back to the period of
the possession of New York by the Dutch. Jacob and
Thomas Powell were the sons of Henry Powell, of Hem-
stead, L. I., who, although at one time in affluent cir-
cumstances, was reduced to poverty by the vicissitudes
of the War of Independence ; and who died when
Jacob was 16 and Thomas 12 years of age, leaving
them utterly helpless, with the care of a widowed
mother. With that energy which ever after dis-
tinguished them, they grappled manfully with adversity;
and the lessons which they learned then were their best
capital in the active duties of life.

In 1788, Thomas and Jacob, in company with their
mother, removed to the County of Orange, and settled
near Washingtonville, where their industry led to some
increase of property. In 1791, they removed to Marl-
borough, Ulster County, where the brothers opened a
small store and erected some lime kilns, and engaged
successfully in the production and sale of lime. In the
spring of 1798, they removed to New York, and en-
gaged in mercantile business, but, being driven away
by yellow fever the succeeding summer, took up their

73

residence temporarily at Newburgh. The Village was
then small. A single dock and a store or two trans-
acted all the business of the place. But the Powells
saw, at a glance, the future. A comparatively large
commerce with the West made Newburgh the head of
its land transit, and the axe was already ringing in the
forests, and the rich lands of Orange and Ulster yield-
ing those fruits which pointed out the ultimate import-
ance of the place ; and they engaged at once in the
mercantile and freighting business, and in the purchase
of lands. As a natural consequence of energy and in-
tegrity, accompanied by the rapid growth of the Village,
they became wealthy.

In 1807, while the Powells were busy with their sloops
in conveying to market the produce of the rich agricul-
tural district by which we are surrounded, the wheels
of Fulton's boat, the Claremont, ruffled the waters of
the Newburgh Bay, and opened to them new ideas of
the future, and with no little interest did they watch
the development of that mighty agency which Fulton
had discovered. In 1823, Jacob died, and Thomas suc-
ceeded to the business, and continued in its successful

10

74

prosecution. In 1834, we believe, he built the High-
lander, one of the most substantial and rapid steamers
of her time. In 1846, he built the Thomas Powell, a
steamer of remarkable speed. Both steamers still navi-
gate the Hudson. Steamers for freighting purposes,
however, were soon superseded by barges, and Mr.
Powell was first in placing upon the Newburgh line
the Newburgh, and later the Susquehanna, barges
which have no superior on the river.

Of late years Mr. Powell did not take an active part
in business, but his name and capital were successfully
wielded by his associates, Mr. Kamsdell and Mr. Moore.
He continued, however, to take a deep interest in his
old pursuits, and was daily at his place of business.
With that prudent foresight which always accompanied
his transactions, one of his recent acts was to renew his
articles of co-partnership, for a term of years, with Mr.
Kamsdell and Mr. Moore, for the purpose of continu-
ing the name and business of the firm without interrup-
tion after his death. Fortunate it is for the interests
of Newburgh that the mantle of the Patriarch has
fallen upon successors of such enterprise and ability.

75

We have only briefly glanced at Mr. Powell's con-
nection with the business and growth of Newburgh.
Although we have given prominence to the freighting
interests so long under his charge, it should not be in-
ferred that that interest received his attention exclu-
sively. Identifying his own interests with those of the
Village, a large portion of his revenues were directed
to its development and prosperity. He was a large
stockholder in manufacturing enterprises, in the build-
ing of Kail and Plank Roads, and his name or capital
were constantly employed in mercantile and mechanical
channels, and his hand moved behind the curtain and
sustained enterprises which are now permanent and
beneficial. All who remember the blighting effect of
the construction of the Hudson and Delaware Canal,
and later, of the New York and Erie Railroad, upon the
prosperity of Newburgh, will never fail to acknowledge
the promptness with which Mr. Powell came forward
and took the lead in the effort to overcome the disadvan-
tages under which we labored.

Foremost in all public enterprises, the name of
Thomas Powell is written in living characters on

76

every page of our local history and progress. Whatever
we are to-day, in a commercial point of view — what-
ever of prosperity and enterprise animates the public
pulse of our Village — is due, in a great measure, to
him. His large landed interests, his Docks and Store-
houses, his Steamers, Barges and Ferry, the Bank that
bears his name, and the noisy clatter of the Loom and
Spindle, and the ringing whistle of the Locomotive
which sound in our ears, are monuments of his worth.
Newburgh mourns his loss as that of a father who has
contributed indulgently to the happiness and prosperity
of his children.

From the manner in which Mr. Powell acquired and
employed his wealth, we might draw lessons for ex-
ample alike to the poor and to the wealthy. No one
lives to himself alone. The means employed to secure
wealth — industry, frugality and honesty — are open to
all. The disposition of wealth should be, while pro-
moting the interests of the possessor, to benefit those
who may fall within the circle of its influence. Such
was the conduct of Mr. Powell. More than once did
he stake his entire wealth for the prosperity of those by

77

whom he was surrounded ; and, as the noble ship breast-

ing the sea dashes the foam and spray over all around

her, so did he scatter prosperity, through his enterprise,

in the community of which he formed a part.

In private life, as in all his transactions with men,

honesty, integrity, and liberality marked the conduct of

Thomas Powell. His was the " hand that scattereth

yet increaseth." To private and public charities his

ear was ever open, and none were turned empty away.
Eccentric in some respects, he nevertheless carried with

him a warm heart and a philanthropic spirit ; and in
his last hours " troops of good deeds, like angels,
thronged about his couch, and buoyed him safely up
when on the threshold of another world." The good
he has done will live long after his name has passed
from the memory of man, and rise in sweet incense to
Him in whose presence " Charity covereth a multitude
of sins."

" No longer seek his merits to disclose,

Nor draw his frailties from their dread abode,

There they alike in trembling hope repose —
The bosom of their father and their God."

Resolutions of the Board of Trustees.

At a special meeting of the Board of
Trustees of the Village of Newburgh, held
at the Clerk's Office, on Tuesday evening,
May 13th, the following Preamble and Re-
solutions were presented by Mr. Kerr, and
adopted unanimously:

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove
from among us our venerable fellow-citizen, Thomas
Powell, justly regarded as one of the Fathers of New-
burgh ; and

Whereas, This entire community in his decease
mourns the loss of one who has been identified with its
best interests for more than half a century ; therefore

Resolved, That the members of this Board, as a
testimony of respect, will attend the funeral of the de-

79

ceased, and wear the usual badge of mourning for
thirty days.

Resolved, That the citizens be requested to close
their places of business on Thursday, the 15th inst.,
from three o'clock to five o'clock, P. M.

Resolved, That the foregoing be entered upon the
Minutes, and a copy thereof transmitted by the Clerk
to the family of Mr. Powell.

W. L. F. WARREN, President.

Chas. Halstead, Jun., Clerk.

Funeral Services.

The Funeral Services of the late Mr. Thomas
Powell, were attended, on Thursday afternoon last, by
a large concourse of people. Flags were kept at half-
mast during the day, and at the hour appointed for the
funeral ceremonies, the stores and places of business
were generally closed. The services were conducted by
Kev. Hobart Brown, of Brooklyn, Rev. T. Riley, of
New Windsor, and Rev. Dr. Forsyth, of Newburgh.
A forcible discourse was delivered by Rev. Mr. Brown,
from the text : " No man liveth on the earth and dieth
not." The Reverend speaker, after an appropriate and
touching enforcement of this Scriptural truth, called
attention to the remarkable character of the deceased,
showing in striking representation the strong points of
his manhood — his vigorous mind — his untiring indus-
try— his excellent business habits ; and in all present-
ing his career as an example for the young men of the
country. One of the largest processions ever witnessed

THE NEW YORJ

PUBLIC LIBRAR1

A«TO*, LENOX AMO
_TllDg* FOWOATKNtL

Ill III

81

in this Village, accompanied the remains to the grave,

under the solemn tolling of the Church bells — the fol-

lowing gentlemen acting as pall-bearers :

GEORGE CORNWELL, SAMUEL WILLIAMS,

HENRY WYCKOFF, URIAH LOCKWOOD,

SAMUEL JOHNSON, SAMUEL W. EAGER,

BENJAMIN CARPENTER, HENRY WALSH.

The impressive service of the Episcopal Church was

read at the grave, and the body of Thomas Powell

committed, " Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to

dust."

•

11

Proceedings of Public Meeting.

On Monday morning last, the following
Call was posted in the streets of our Village :

Public Meeting. — The citizens of Newburgh are
respectfully invited to attend a Public Meeting, to be
held at the Court House, on Monday afternoon, the
19th instant, at 5 o'clock, to pay a tribute of respect
to the memory of the late Thomas Powell.

JOHN W. BROWN, GEORGE CORNWELL,

DAVID W. BATE, E. W. FARRINGTON,

BENJ. CARPENTER, SAMUEL W. EAGER,

ENOCH CARTER, P. CHAPMAN,

C. F. BELKNAP, JOHN J. MONELL,

WM. C. HASBROUCK, THOMAS GEORGE,

THOMAS McKISSOCK, HENRY WALSH.
Dated May 17, 1856.

At the hour named, the citizens assem-
bled at the Court Room, when the Hon. D.

83

W. Bate called the Meeting to order, and
nominated Hon. John W. Brown, of the
Supreme Court, for Chairman. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Benjamin Carpenter,
and was carried. On motion of Mr. George
Cornwell, Mr. E. W. Farrington, was
made Vice- Chairman ; and on motion of
Mr. C. F. Belknap, the Chair appointed
Mr. Belknap and Mr. S. R. Van Duzer,

Secretaries.

Mr. Brown then arose and said :

This Meeting lias been assembled that the citizens of
Newburgh might testify their respect for the memory
of their deceased townsman, the late Mr. Thomas
Powell. We, who have known him for so many years,
who have been accustomed to meet and .salute him
almost daily, and who have not yet become reconciled
to miss him from his usual places of resort — we who

84

have witnessed his industry, his perseverance and
energy, and shared largely in the results of his liber-
ality— desire to express publicly our deep regret at his
death, and our high appreciation of the manly qualities
which distinguished his character. This is a mournful,
but a grateful task. For, in doing homage to the
memory of departed worth, we hold it up to others as
a model worthy of imitation, and offer the strongest as
well as the noblest incentive to the cultivation and
exercise of that moral excellence which is the chief
ornament of our nature, and which ensures the happi-
ness and progress of our race. The character and ten-
dencies of the individual mind, depend somewhat upon
external influences and the circumstances by which the
individual is surrounded. The Athenian of the age of
Pericles ; the Koman of that of Brutus ; the Briton
who lived in the time of the Cromwells, the Vanes and
the Hampdens ; and the Anglo-American of the time
of the Washmgtons, the Hancocks and the Franklins,
could hardly fail to find the character of his mind
affected, and his faculties enlarged and invigorated, by
the events of which he was a constant spectator. In

85

great emergencies, the public interests are everything —
those of the individual absolutely nothing It is then
that men forget themselves and all that concerns them
as individuals, in their efforts to accomplish great ob-
jects— to establish great principles — perchance to pre-
serve their country from conquest and subjugation, or
in the hope of investing its history with the halo of
imperishable renown. These are the true heroic ages —
periods which shed the light of heroic action far into
the vista of future times, and exhibit for the instruction
and imitation of posterity, the noblest examples of
courage and constancy — of self-denial and public virtue.
It was in one of these eventful eras that Mr. Powell
began the career of life — an era fruitful of great events
— prolific of great men. He was just seven years of
age when the Revolutionary struggle began, and saw
and remembered some of the conflicts of arms and
opinion which preceded and were consummated in the
establishment of the National Independence. He con-
nected tjie present with the Revolutionary age, and was
among the few last remnants of a generation now no
more. Who shall say what power and energy the

86

stirring scenes of his early youth may have imparted to
his strong and vigorous mind ? Who shall undertake
to determine how much of that fortitude and moral
courage — how much of that force and fidelity of pur-
pose which distinguished his character, may have been
inspired by the illustrious examples by which his early
manhood was surrounded ?

Mr. Powell had his faults and his eccentricities ;
and where is the man that has not ? But such as
they really were, they were amply redeemed by the
manly qualities to which I have alluded. He was not,
in the usual sense of the term — perhaps not in any
sense — what we esteem a great man. It was not his
fortune to control the destinies of States — to preside
over the deliberations of Cabinets, or to direct the
movements of armies. Nor was he one of those — to
use Mr. Macauley's fine expression in reference to Lord
Holland — " who move great assemblies by reason and
eloquence — who put life into bronze and canvass, or
left to posterity things so written as it shall not wil-
liDgly let them die." He did none of these things.
His sphere of usefulness and field of action was of ano-

87

ther, perhaps of a humbler kind, and his labors and
exertions assumed a humbler form. Yet the great and
beneficent results which he, and such as he, helped to
accomplish, no man is yet able to estimate. He be-
longed to that race of men who laid the foundations of
the Republic upon the principles of truth and justice —
a race whose industry, enterprise and energy subdued
the primeval forests — opened the great rivers of the
continent — traversed the savannahs of the South and
the prairies of the far West — who enlarged the bounda-
ries of our country and planted its outposts beyond the
summits of mountains. These were the conquests in
which Mr. Powell and his cotemporaries bore a con-
spicuous part — conquests that caused no tears, that
cost no blood, and that inflicted no suffering, for they
were the conquests of peace and christian civilization.

He had not the advantages of a liberal education.
The knowledge derived from books, and taught at the
schools, was denied him, for his youth was long past
ere we perfected that system of public instruction
which sends the schoolmaster into every hamlet, and
places education within the reach of all. But his

88

t

native sagacity, his powers of observation, his constant
and close intercourse with the best business men of his
time, more than supplied the place of early instruction.
Whatever he achieved was due to himself alone. His
wealth, his undoubted influence, his position as a mer-
chant, a banker and a man of business, was due solely
to his own industry, energy and integrity. In a public
meeting of his neighbors and townsmen, it were idle to
speak of his public spirit, and the uses he made of his
wealth during the last twenty-five years of his life.
How he applied it, and what he did with it, is fresh in
the recollection of us all. It is sufficient to say, that
whatever measure of prosperity we now enjoy — what-
ever of activity pervades our public streets, our work-
shops, our wharves and places of business, we owe to
the prompt and intelligent interposition of Mr. Powell's
wealth and credit between us and the legitimate results
of great public improvements, which threatened to dry
up the sources of our prosperity, and divert the streams
of our business into other channels. He was not alone
in his exertions to arrest the downward tendency of
our prosperity. There were others, and especially one

89

other, whose efforts were conspicuous in the same emer-
gency, and to whom the citizens of Newburgh owe a
debt of gratitude which it will be difficult to pay.

There was one peculiarity in Mr. Powell's character
which entitles him to honorable and grateful remem-
brance. The pride of wealth is the infirmity of ignoble
minds. He had no such weakness. He was, without
doubt, for many years, the richest man in all this por-
tion of the State, yet the influence of his circumstances
wrought no change in his habits and manners, or in his
genial and kindly intercourse with his fellow-men. The
simplicity and economy of his youth remained un-
changed to the close of his life. He disdained the
empty and idle display — the luxurious ease of the fash-
ionable quarters of a great city. He chose rather to
dwell in the country, upon the bank of this noble River,
in sight of these lofty and beautiful Hills, and to dis-
pense and distribute his wealth where it had been
mainly acquired, in the employment of labor, in the
navigation of the River, the construction of Roads, the
improvement and embellishment of his property, and

in the mercantile enterprises of the firm of which, at

12

90

the time of his death, he was the senior partner. It
was true that his house was for many years the abode
of a generous, and, I may add, a refined hospitality,
but it was dispensed without the pride of wealth, or
the ostentation of affluence.

In all my intercourse with Mr. Powell, I ever found
him a just and an upright man, and ever ready to re-
cognize and respect the rights of others. He was fear-
less and resolute in the expression of his opinions —
never concealing his disapprobation of what he deemed
to be wrong, and his appreciation of what he thought
right. Concealment and dissimulation was no part of
his nature. He had a cheerful as well as a resolute
temper of mind, never dismayed by defeat or turned
aside from its objects by disappointment ; and he never
lost that buoyant and exuberant spirit which was one
of his chief characteristics. Even during the various
illnesses which cast a shadow over his later years, this
happy disposition did not leave him. I well remember
being consulted by him some years since upon the final
disposition of his estate. He was then confined to his
house by an illness which he thought he could not sur-

91

vive. The interview lasted some time, and as I arose
to take leave of him, I ventured to inquire if the near
approach of death inspired him with any terror. He
replied, with his usual cheerfulness : "Not in the least.
I have long contemplated that event, and am quite
prepared for it. I have outlived my capacity for use-
fulness and enjoyment, and have no longer a wish to
remain. I regard death," said he, "as a necessary as
well as an inevitable event, the consummation and
completion of the state of being which we call life ; and
I shall encounter, without apprehension, and not with-
out hope, the change which awaits us all."

It was, indeed, true, as he said, that he had outlived
his ability to be useful, for he was well stricken in
years and the infirmities of age were upon him. It is
equally true, however, that he left nothing which it
was proper he should do, incomplete and unfinished.
Long before he separated himself from business and
ceased to take part in its concerns, he had filled the
measure of his usefulness, and executed the duties and
trusts which his position imposed upon him with scru-
pulous fidelity and care. He descended into the grave

92

full of years and not without honor — with little to
regret in the past and much to hope for in the future —
deplored by all who enjoyed his acquaintance — mourned
by those who had the happiness to share his friendship.
It remains for those present to say what action they
will take in regard to his memory.

On motion of Mr. Cornwell, the Chair
appointed the following Committee to pre-
pare Resolutions giving expression to the
sentiments of the Meeting: Messrs. D. W.
Bate, George Cornwell, John J. Monell,
Saml. W. Eager, Henry Walsh, and Saml.
J. Farnum.

The Committee reported the following
Resolutions :

1. Benolved, That the Village of Newburgh has suf-
fered an irreparable loss in the death of Thomas
Powell, its oldest, most prominent and useful citizen

93

— who directed his energies, his large wealth, unques-
tioned credit, and so many years of his life, in building
up the business of this place — in projecting and com-
pleting the works of improvement which have estab-
lished its present, and secured its future, growth and
prosperity.

2. Resolved, That his absence of ostentation in his
intercourse with society, in the midst of wealth — his
industry, care and prudence, joined with an extensive
liberality — identified, as he has been, for more than
half a century, with the affairs of Newburgh, have
done much to form the character and reputation of our
people at home and abroad.

3. Resolved, That having risen from poverty to
wealth, by the slow and usual channels of trade and
business, he exhibited in his advancing years a rare and
beautiful trait of character, by not hoarding Ins wealth
for purposes of accumulation, but laying it out to sur-
round his home — the abode of genial hospitality — with
so many comforts and improvements ; by bestowing so
much of his property, during his life, where he might
see others enjoy its advantages ; and in expending it

94

so freely in works of enterprise, for the benefit of his
fellow-townsmen.

4. Resolved, That we sincerely sympathize with his
bereaved family under this afflictive dispensation, trust-
ing that He who afflicts — not willingly — will, in His
own good time, pour into their wounded hearts the
balm of His consolation.

5. Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this
meeting be signed by the officers thereof, and presented
to the family of the deceased.

Hon. Thos. McKissock, in moving their
adoption, said:

Mr. Chairman : — There is nothing presents a more
beautiful exhibition than the expression of gratitude ;
and the exercise of that virtue is also highly beneficial
to the subject of it, whether it be a person or a com-
munity. But this is especially so, when a just tribute
of respect is rendered by the public to a benefactor.
It is a great mistake to suppose that the love of praise
does not move noble minds. On the contrary, it is a

95

strong incentive to action in those of a generous na-
ture, and even the selfish are often prompted to liber-
ality by its incitement. It is, therefore, as I for the
present assume, both profitable and respectful, that
the people of Newburgh acknowledge the debt of grati-
tude they owe our deceased fellow-townsman, Mr.
Thomas Powell, by offering the tribute to his memory
contained in the resolutions just read.

Some places, like some persons, enjoy one uniform
flood-tide of prosperity, while others are subject to the
vicissitudes of success and sharp adversity. The latter
has been the fortime of Newburgh. For a while she
enjoyed, besides the business from the more immediate
neighborhood, the trade from the interior as far west as
the minor Lakes of the State. This was turned to
good advantage, and had built up a thriving Village,
when first the Erie and next the Delaware and Hudson
Canal, like the approaching trenches of a beseiging
army, straitened her limits and cut off her resources,
till, if want and starvation did not absolutely stare the
inhabitants in the face, yet it was perfectly plain, that
unless a favorable change took place — of which there

96

appeared little or no hope — many of the citizens would
be compelled to seek some more fortunate place of
business.

At this time, Mr. Powell had arrived at that age
when most men, whether successful or unsuccessful in
business, either retire or are thrust from active pursuits.
Beside, he had retired on an ample fortune for those
time's and this region, counting his wealth at least by
hundreds of thousands. After things had grown worse
and worse, for some years, under the influence of the
causes above mentioned, Mr. Powell, about the year
1835, stepped down from his peaceful retirement, and
put his fortune again into the chances of business in
Newburgh, the place where he had made his wealth.
He had no son, and no child but one — now Mrs. Rams-
dell — and but two grand-children, both girls, and
could not, therefore, have been moved by the impulses
of vigorous manhood, the suggestions of mercenary
ambition, or the claims of domestic relations or family
settlements, or the hope of gain, for we have just
showed there was little hope of that here. What
motive, then, can it be fairly presumed, moved him to

97

this course ? We answer, a manly, courageous, gener-
ous resolution to identify himself, for better, for worse,
with the fortunes of the place where he had spent the
better portion of his life, where he had married his
wife, and where his children were born. And then an
old man, he commenced a new career, that terminated
only with his life, which was, fortunately for New-
burgh, prolonged for nearly a quarter of a century.

He constructed wharfs and store-houses — built steam-
boats, under the charge of a most skillful agent, sparing
no expense to make them of the very best class, for
strength, accommodation and speed. At a cost of
some $130,000, he established a ferry here, which has
not been surpassed or even equalled on this river, ex-
cept in or about the Port of New York.

Shortly after this, he associated himself with a few
enterprizing and zealous men of the place, to construct
the Hudson and Delaware Eailroad, and when that en-
terprise was crushed out by the disasters of 1837, he
and they stood firm to their purpose, if possible, to
resuscitate the suspended animation of the place. For

this, an opportunity shortly occurred. The New York

13

98

and Erie Kailroad, in progress of construction, was cal-
culated to cut off the trade of the north-west portion
of New Jersey and the southerly part of the County of
Orange, which then still came to Newburgh. That
Company became insolvent, and after lying in that
condition for some time, a band of enterprising and
generous men of the City of New York, having in
view the noble purpose of increasing the commercial
prosperity of that place, applied to the Legislature for
certain privileges and immunities, to enable them to
renew that work. The noble few in Newburgh saw in
this the last chance to save the place, and accordingly
they immediately set on foot a plan, if possible, to pro-
cure for the New York and Erie Railroad Company
what they desired, but only on the condition that they
should construct a Branch of their Road to Newburgh.
An Act was passed embracing both these propositions,
with another condition, that the people of Newburgh
should subscribe for the stock of the Company one-
third of all that was necessary to construct the
Branch ; or there was an agreement to the effect of
this latter condition between the Railroad Company

99

and the managing men of this place. Whether this
latter condition was contained in the Act, or in an
agreement as before stated, I am not positively in-
formed.

Mr. Powell now came forward, among the foremost,
and subscribed for a large share of the stock which was
agreed upon as the portion to be taken by Newburgh,
as I have before stated. The stock was then much
below par, with little or no chance of becoming par for
a long time to come.

By the Act of the Legislature which I have referred
to, the Company were bound to finish the Branch by
or in the year 1851 ; but an earlier completion was
highly desirable. And at this juncture, the Director
of the Erie Railroad from this place — to whose talents,
industry and indomitable perseverance this place is so
largely indebted — procured a resolution of the Board
of Directors of the Company, that if Newburgh would
raise one-third of the money necessary for the imme-
diate completion of the Branch (the whole being be-
tween three and four hundred thousand dollars), they
would finish it without delay. Mr. Powell, with

158245

100

several other of our citizens — he being best known and
of the highest credit — (and without whose well-known
responsibility it may, I think, be safely said, these
operations could not probably have been effected) — gave
their obligations for the amount, on which the money
was raised, and the Branch was finished and put in
operation the last of the year 1849.

I think it proper here to mention the name of
another citizen of this place, now deceased, whose mind
and best exertions were constantly devoted to the pro-
motion of all plans calculated to advance the public
interests, and who was always among the foremost in
seeking the advancement of the schemes of internal
improvement above referred to. It is scarcely necessary
to say that I refer to Mr. John Forsyth.

On the day of the completion of the Branch Road,
the prosperity of this place was set on a sure founda-
tion. New branches of business have sprung up. The
trade in lumber alone may be mentioned as one of
great extent. That article of commerce is now sent
from this place to New York, New England, New Jer-
sey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington City, Rio

101

Janeiro, Valparaiso, San Francisco, Australia, and
many other markets, near and remote. I have seen
ships twice as large as not long ago could have been
found in the City of New York, two at a time, lying
at our wharves loading with lumber for the Pacific.

The building of cars, also, is extensively carried on,
and ship-building has received a new impulse from the
facility of procuring timber. The sound of the axe,
the hammer and the saw, and other implements of the
mechanic arts, are now heard where before all was
silence and gloom ; and, in fact, new life and energy
have been infused into every branch of industry and
business.

To all those who will say that Mr. Powell, and the
other men who associated with him, sought only their
own interest in these matters, there is one short an-
swer— No ingrate ever yet failed to have what he
thought, or pretended to think, a plausible excuse for
his unthankfulness.

But there was another respect in which Mr. Powell
was of great service to this Village. While it was al-
ways understood that he was liberal and generous in his

102

household and family affairs, it was equally known that
he avoided all expenditure for show or ostentatious
display. He provided all things necessary to a gener-
ous hospitality — he had always horses, carriages and
servants sufficient for a liberal enjoyment of a comfort-
able independence — yet it plainly appeared to all that
the vanity of surpassing others, in these particulars, had
no place in his mind. He considered industry and
economy as cardinal social virtues, that he openly de-
clared at all times, and he practiced what he preached.
Every one who has observed the influence of the exam-
ple of the rich in such matters, on the social condition
of small and even large communities, will readily con-
sent to the conclusion, that the deceased was of great
service to the inhabitants of this place, in promoting
among them habits of industry and economy ; and no
one will deny that our people are distinguished for
their diligence in business, their economical habits and
thrift. If, then, the deceased has contributed in any
degree to the production of such a state of society,
he was, in this, a public benefactor, and entitled to our
gratitude.

103

I move, Sir, the adoption of the Kesolutions just
read.

Mr. John J. Monell, in seconding the
motion, said:

Mr. Chairman : I propose to add but a few words to
what has already been so appropriately said in relation
to our departed friend. For more than half a century
he has been one of our most prominent citizens ; he
has benefited us all by his enterprise, and encouraged
us to activity in business by a life of successful industry.

In looking around this assembly, I see none of the
companions of his youth. They have long since been
numbered with the dead. Our middle-aged men, seve-
ral of whom have been associated with him in business,
and our young men, who have grown up under the in-
fluence of his efforts, have come together to pay a
tribute to his memory. This is no formal ceremony.
It is not occasioned by any accidental professional or
official position heretofore occupied by the deceased.
It is the spontaneous movement of his fellow-towns-
men, prompted by a grateful remembrance of all that

;

104

has been done for them by the principal founder of
their place.

And is it really true, that Thomas Powell, so
familiarly known even to our children, is dead, and that
he will never again be seen in our streets and along our
wharves ? It is true that he has gone from among us,
but he is not lost to us. The impress of his character,
the results of his industry and energy, will ever re-
main ; and besides, he placed his mantle, during his
life, with his own hands, on the shoulders of one whom
the citizens of Newburgh will ever love to honor for
what he has already done for them.

The deceased was a remarkable man — remarkable for
the age in which he lived ; for the physical strength and
mental faculties which sustained him till his death ; for
his absence of ostentation in the midst of wealth ; and
for giving up the love of money and the desire for ac-
cumulation, when most men become more grasping
and penurious. Incidents illustrative of his charac-
ter will be related by father to son while our town
remains, for his name is identified with improvements
which must ever contribute to its prosperity. He was

105

nurtured in the days of the Kevolution, and early
breathed the spirit of the founders of our Bepublic. He
always exemplified a love of political equality in his
intercourse with society, and made himself a living ex-
ample of what our free institutions have done for man.
He arose through the ordinary course of trade and busi-
ness by a road which all may travel, from poverty to
wealth and influence. He established his position by
individual effort, and acquired possessions which in
other lands few obtain, except by tracing their title
through a long line of ancestry, to the time when they
were first seized by fraud and violence. In his early
years, before religious and political liberty had been es-
tablished, he had witnessed priestly oppression and
aristocratic assumption exhibited by the enemies of his
country ; and he was then taught to denounce the one
and despise the other. In later years, when he thought
of former outrages upon personal rights and privileges,
influenced by the force of early habit, he would some-
times denounce with a boldness that belonged to ano-
ther age. But those who knew him well, can testify

how much he really appreciated refinement and true

14

106

excellence, how gentle was his disposition, and how
liberal and charitable his views.

But I will not speak more of the deceased, except to
make one statement in relation to his religious belief.
In the last conversation I had with Mr. Powell, he
said, that " after years of anxious thought he had
come to the conclusion that he could not atone for his
own offences, and that he needed a mediator, and hoped
for pardon through his merits." He further said,
" that he always made it a point to examine his daily
life, each morning and evening, and ask God for direc-
tion."

And now assembled to commemorate the memory of
an aged deceased neighbor, are we not reminded that
within a short period an unusual number of our oldest
and best citizens have gone down to the grave. Cham-
bees, Johnston, Lawson, Forsyth, Powell, and
others that I might mention, are no more. Surely

" The hand of the reaper
Took the ears that were hoary."

Increased responsibilities are thus thrown upon us,
and it becomes us to meet them promptly like men, for

107

death awaits us all, and may come sooner than we ex-
pect. Then, while the heavens are still above us,
spanned by the bow of promise — while we have health
and prosperity — let us remember that,

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour —
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

The report of the Committee was then
adopted unanimously.

On motion, the meeting adjourned.

JOHN. W. BROWN, Chairman.

E. W. FARRINGTON, Vice-Chairman.

C. F. Belknap, )

( Secretaries.
S. R. Van Duzer,$

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